I wanted to make a quick amendment to my post about the status of the multi-cut liners for next season. Previously I stated that the Syngenta Kwik Kombos and Selecta Trixi liners were business as usual, but I have now learned today that the Dummen Utility patent has forced some changes to the Trixi Liners, that actually is a great improvement for that program.
In order to not be affected by the patent, the Trixi Liner is now individually stuck in a mono-culture tray, then combined of week 3 in to a 50 cell tray and then finished in the production tray for 3 more weeks before shipped to a rooted customers.
What this means is no misses in a 50 liner (1 item dies in production), better and faster rooting due to the smaller initial cell size, and lastly each species can be treated early in production based on its specific needs. All three of those will make a superior product to last years Trixi Liners.
This technology and process will also be utilized in the new Ball FloraPlant MixMaster program that will include all the great BFP breeding lines.
I will update with pictures later.
P.S. Beautiful here today again.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Multi-cut programs
I thought it would be interesting to note that since the Dummen Confetti Liner Utility Patent, some suppliers have changed their tune.
For those not aware of that Patent, it states that no supplier can sell a liner with multiple species cuttings in the same cell without paying a royalty to Dummen.
While the Selecta Trixi liner and Syngenta Kwik Kombo programs are business as usually, smaller breeders like Fides are making it a point out to customers that their mix programs are only recipe ideas and in no way are they promoting the sticking multiple cuttings in the same cell during production.... interesting.
I am not sure of the outcome of this patent on our industry, but we should find out this year.
For those not aware of that Patent, it states that no supplier can sell a liner with multiple species cuttings in the same cell without paying a royalty to Dummen.
While the Selecta Trixi liner and Syngenta Kwik Kombo programs are business as usually, smaller breeders like Fides are making it a point out to customers that their mix programs are only recipe ideas and in no way are they promoting the sticking multiple cuttings in the same cell during production.... interesting.
I am not sure of the outcome of this patent on our industry, but we should find out this year.
Ball Seed
Ball Seed- This is day one of our two day stop. Of course I may seem biased, but please believe me that the Ball stop in Santa Paula is beautiful in plant quality and layout, and my favorite stop for a eighth year in a row.
This is a huge stop representing the following programs: Ball FloraPlant, Selecta, PanAmerican Seed, Keift, Burpee Home Gardens, Ball Ingenuity and Ball Ornamental.
Tomorrow we will go in depth with product training but today was more of a quick overview. One of the biggest new launches is the addition of Flowers to the Burpee Home Garden program. My day 4 post will go in to more detail as I learn more too.
This is a huge stop representing the following programs: Ball FloraPlant, Selecta, PanAmerican Seed, Keift, Burpee Home Gardens, Ball Ingenuity and Ball Ornamental.
Tomorrow we will go in depth with product training but today was more of a quick overview. One of the biggest new launches is the addition of Flowers to the Burpee Home Garden program. My day 4 post will go in to more detail as I learn more too.
Fides
Fides- A new stop for us a few years back and it continues to put out a few new exciting intros each year. As I stated in our Oro visit, Fides purchased Oro and the Fides production will be moving to the Oro facility. We have been assured that top Oro management has been retained to make this a smooth transition.
Petunia Fortunia Purple Heart -This new addition to the Fortunia series caught every ones attention as we walked through the door. I have been seeing an increased interest in the last two years of veined vegetative petunias, especially in the use of combos. This color is more intense than Daddy Sugar and more purple/lavender that Bordeaux. Long story short- Very impressive color. Please remember that the Fortunia series is not a trailing petunia, it has more standard blood in its veins(sorry for the pun), that means it is upright mounding. It will cascade but don't expect much trailing. With the popularity of Bordeaux this could be an exciting intro.
Petunia Fortunia Purple Heart -This new addition to the Fortunia series caught every ones attention as we walked through the door. I have been seeing an increased interest in the last two years of veined vegetative petunias, especially in the use of combos. This color is more intense than Daddy Sugar and more purple/lavender that Bordeaux. Long story short- Very impressive color. Please remember that the Fortunia series is not a trailing petunia, it has more standard blood in its veins(sorry for the pun), that means it is upright mounding. It will cascade but don't expect much trailing. With the popularity of Bordeaux this could be an exciting intro.
Growlink
The Growlink stop was very well grown, but there really wasn't anything new to speak of. The mum trial was well grown and I took notes, but I always wait till I talk to Ed Higgings before I recommend anything. Ed is the Mum Master, and his word is golden. Trust his integrity and vast knowledge of mums when he makes his recommendations in the Ball Mum catalog and his 3 breeder Mum Grid, which is essential when creating a mum program.
Food: Barbecued Tri-Tip, potato salad.
Food: Barbecued Tri-Tip, potato salad.
Floranova
Floranova- A breeder from across the pond continues to become more relevant in new introductions each year. They were the first to focus the industry on the promotion of vegetables in containers and this year the have added some fun new items to their collection.
Tomato Cherry Falls- Floranova is the breeder of the Tumbling Tom series and this new line of the Falls are trailing as well, but the size and quantity of the tomatoes are both significantly increased. Fruits are ~1.25" in size. I snuck a sample and it was very tasty.
Tomato Sunset Falls- This will be a Ball Seed Exclusive. This is different that the other new trailing intro of trailing tomatoes, Sunset Falls has more of a plum shape and has a very cool yellowish/ orange vertical striping of the skin. The color pattern gives it the look of the heirloom variety, Red Zebra, but with all the benefits of a hybrid, plus it trails! It looks to have less fruit than the abundance that Cherry Falls has, but the striping pattern makes up for any loss in production. I know there is a sign that tells you explicitly not to eat, but that is like telling me not to breathe... I snuck another sample, and it too was tasty,
Tomato Mega Bite- This was a last year intro for a 2" determinant growth tomato. Perfect for 12-14" containers. Plus they were promoting customers to sample this one, so I felt obliged to try this :) Nice flavor, very meaty flesh with not to much seed juice.
Pepper Basket of Fire- This is the first trailing chili pepper. Along with the culinary use of this variety the peppers change color while maturing, so you get a great basket of 4-5 different colors. Floranova introduced 2 other trailing peppers this year, but this was the most interesting. Did not sample this. I like spicy Indian and Thai food, but can't handle hot peppers by themselves.
Corn Field of Dreams- This was a late intro this winter and seed is available to ship and there is plenty of time for a crop of this due to is super fast grow time. 1 seed per 4", 3 seed per gallon. The corn has a variegated green/white/pink leaves, and the tassels and corn are a dark burgundy. The height an growth is reminiscent of the original Purple Majesty Millet (4'-6' garden height). This is a good large combo item or use as a height element in a landscape bed.
Now that I am finished blogging about the Floranova stop, I am shocked that the ratio of the square foot of the display greenhouse we toured and the size of my post. You could attribute this depth to my love of food, but it is also fun to see new innovative products, and Floranova had a lot of them.
Food: 1 Cherry Falls Tomato, 1 Sunset Falls Tomato, 1 Mega Bite Tomato & some salsa made from their assortment of vegetables.
Tomato Cherry Falls- Floranova is the breeder of the Tumbling Tom series and this new line of the Falls are trailing as well, but the size and quantity of the tomatoes are both significantly increased. Fruits are ~1.25" in size. I snuck a sample and it was very tasty.
Tomato Sunset Falls- This will be a Ball Seed Exclusive. This is different that the other new trailing intro of trailing tomatoes, Sunset Falls has more of a plum shape and has a very cool yellowish/ orange vertical striping of the skin. The color pattern gives it the look of the heirloom variety, Red Zebra, but with all the benefits of a hybrid, plus it trails! It looks to have less fruit than the abundance that Cherry Falls has, but the striping pattern makes up for any loss in production. I know there is a sign that tells you explicitly not to eat, but that is like telling me not to breathe... I snuck another sample, and it too was tasty,
Tomato Mega Bite- This was a last year intro for a 2" determinant growth tomato. Perfect for 12-14" containers. Plus they were promoting customers to sample this one, so I felt obliged to try this :) Nice flavor, very meaty flesh with not to much seed juice.
Pepper Basket of Fire- This is the first trailing chili pepper. Along with the culinary use of this variety the peppers change color while maturing, so you get a great basket of 4-5 different colors. Floranova introduced 2 other trailing peppers this year, but this was the most interesting. Did not sample this. I like spicy Indian and Thai food, but can't handle hot peppers by themselves.
Corn Field of Dreams- This was a late intro this winter and seed is available to ship and there is plenty of time for a crop of this due to is super fast grow time. 1 seed per 4", 3 seed per gallon. The corn has a variegated green/white/pink leaves, and the tassels and corn are a dark burgundy. The height an growth is reminiscent of the original Purple Majesty Millet (4'-6' garden height). This is a good large combo item or use as a height element in a landscape bed.
Now that I am finished blogging about the Floranova stop, I am shocked that the ratio of the square foot of the display greenhouse we toured and the size of my post. You could attribute this depth to my love of food, but it is also fun to see new innovative products, and Floranova had a lot of them.
Food: 1 Cherry Falls Tomato, 1 Sunset Falls Tomato, 1 Mega Bite Tomato & some salsa made from their assortment of vegetables.
Day 3
Day 3 starts early and another great day of weather awaits. We have four stops going from Pismo Beach down to Santa Paula.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Hanging Basket Contraption
On the display side, Sakata used a very inventive way to show two levels of hanging basket at lowers levels that seemed very inviting and drew a lot of attention. This did not seem like it would be hard to build, but it did take up some space.
Dummen
Dummen- This was a wow stop last year, and they keep this as a top stop this year too. The amount and quality of intros has made this the most interesting stop yet. They seemed to add good colors to every series, including a Dark Red replacement for Ivy Geranium Barock that Syngenta dropped last year, and two new colors to the Magnum series, the largest flowering New Guinea Impatien on the market. The Magnum series still does not have enough colors to replace any other large flowered basket New Guinea but it has a good start.
Interspecific Geranium Cumbia Series- Watch out Calliope, the Cumbia Dark Red was identical in color and vigor to the Calliope Dark Red, and the Cumbia series also has a Hot Pink/Rose that matches the Dark Red in vigor unlike the Calliope Scarlet that is a smaller variety.
Perry from Dummen says the big difference is the number of flws in the umbels in the two series. In the picture below you can see this. Cumbia on left, Calliope on right.
Petunia Sweetunia Series- A lot of new and exciting colors in this smaller flowered mounded/trailing petunia. The three biggest colors to catch my attention, were the Burgundy, Orange Flash and Black Jack. I think the Burgundy really was a great combo item in their displays.
Petunia Potunia Series- Three new colors were added to the compact mounded series, this and the Sun Spun still remain the top two series for a petunia to use in a 10"combo that won't take over the basket. My favorite of the new three was a soft lavender with deep lavender veining.
Confetti Mixes- The confetti mixes were celebrating their 5th bday this Pack Trials and Dummen was celebrating this and their new Utility Patent. About 4 new mixes that all looked great. Kir Royal was my favorite of the new intros.
Upright Fuschia Artes Mojo- You wouldn't think an upright fuchsia (4" or combo pot production) would make it in to a select few I would talk about at this supplier, but this variety scream Easter Basket color! Every combo they used it in looked great.
Food: A lot of different appetizers, halibut, risotto, green beans and birthday cake. And a cool glass of lemonade meet us at the door when we got there, which hit the spot... It got warm today.
Interspecific Geranium Cumbia Series- Watch out Calliope, the Cumbia Dark Red was identical in color and vigor to the Calliope Dark Red, and the Cumbia series also has a Hot Pink/Rose that matches the Dark Red in vigor unlike the Calliope Scarlet that is a smaller variety.
Perry from Dummen says the big difference is the number of flws in the umbels in the two series. In the picture below you can see this. Cumbia on left, Calliope on right.
Petunia Sweetunia Series- A lot of new and exciting colors in this smaller flowered mounded/trailing petunia. The three biggest colors to catch my attention, were the Burgundy, Orange Flash and Black Jack. I think the Burgundy really was a great combo item in their displays.
Petunia Potunia Series- Three new colors were added to the compact mounded series, this and the Sun Spun still remain the top two series for a petunia to use in a 10"combo that won't take over the basket. My favorite of the new three was a soft lavender with deep lavender veining.
Confetti Mixes- The confetti mixes were celebrating their 5th bday this Pack Trials and Dummen was celebrating this and their new Utility Patent. About 4 new mixes that all looked great. Kir Royal was my favorite of the new intros.
Upright Fuschia Artes Mojo- You wouldn't think an upright fuchsia (4" or combo pot production) would make it in to a select few I would talk about at this supplier, but this variety scream Easter Basket color! Every combo they used it in looked great.
Food: A lot of different appetizers, halibut, risotto, green beans and birthday cake. And a cool glass of lemonade meet us at the door when we got there, which hit the spot... It got warm today.
Sakata
Sakata- This stop looked beautiful and had great trials, but not too much new stuff this year.
Coleus Fairways- I have been getting some requests for the Fairway Coleus this last season, and Ball has picked up the full line for this next season. The fairways have the same color palette and habit as the Wizards.
Begonia Inferno series- This new begonia series is direct competition with the Big Begonias from Benary Sakata says that the vigor is similar to the Bigs, but the big difference is that the Inferno flws are more on top, while the Bigs tend to cascade. I can't say I saw a big improvement of these over the Bigs, and I did know that drooping flws was an issue with Bigs either. What makes the Infernos interesting is two colors that the Bigs don't have. Appleblosom is a soft pink that looks to have good vigor, while white seems to be the least vigorous in the whole series. I will be interested to see how the White preforms this summer. In the second picture below the Inferno series is in the back and the Senator series is in the front.
Food: Tri-Tip Steak Wrap & Oatmeal Cookie
Coleus Fairways- I have been getting some requests for the Fairway Coleus this last season, and Ball has picked up the full line for this next season. The fairways have the same color palette and habit as the Wizards.
Begonia Inferno series- This new begonia series is direct competition with the Big Begonias from Benary Sakata says that the vigor is similar to the Bigs, but the big difference is that the Inferno flws are more on top, while the Bigs tend to cascade. I can't say I saw a big improvement of these over the Bigs, and I did know that drooping flws was an issue with Bigs either. What makes the Infernos interesting is two colors that the Bigs don't have. Appleblosom is a soft pink that looks to have good vigor, while white seems to be the least vigorous in the whole series. I will be interested to see how the White preforms this summer. In the second picture below the Inferno series is in the back and the Senator series is in the front.
Food: Tri-Tip Steak Wrap & Oatmeal Cookie
American Takii
American Takii -They purchased the European breeder Sahin last year, so their assortment get more diverse every year. They are still focused on cut flowers and vegetables, but have some other very cool crops.
There is no losing the Ball Seed group, besides our shear numbers, all the reps have Kiwi Green colored jackets, so lets just say people see us coming. In the picture below are Jason Adams (Indiana), Yves Cournoyer (Great Lakes Regional Manager), Jason Hough (National Sales Manager) & Matt Freeman (Kalamazoo).
Geranium Black Velvet Series- The center zone of the leaves are so big and dark that I walked by this bed not knowing they were geraniums. So unique, I love this! There are 4 colors and flws are small, but the foliage is the main dray for this series. The habit is very vigorous, but I wouldn't say the best branching. The plants had a rangy look to them, but to their defense they were planted way to far apart. Maybe in a tighter planting or in a combo pot, the habit would look better.
Food: Maple glazed donut
Geranium Black Velvet Series- The center zone of the leaves are so big and dark that I walked by this bed not knowing they were geraniums. So unique, I love this! There are 4 colors and flws are small, but the foliage is the main dray for this series. The habit is very vigorous, but I wouldn't say the best branching. The plants had a rangy look to them, but to their defense they were planted way to far apart. Maybe in a tighter planting or in a combo pot, the habit would look better.
Food: Maple glazed donut
Speedling
Our first stop was at Speedling, another location with multiple breeders. While this is my eighth Pack Trials tour, this is the first time I have had the pleasure to visit these companies.
California continues to be a beautiful place to visit in March, the rolling green hills inspire the imagination. It is always fun to see cows on the sides of these very step hills and wonder how they got up that high?
Thompson & Morgan- The British had a nice showing of a small assortment of perennials and annuals.
Cat Grass Tabby- These 4" pots were only 2 weeks old after a direct sow. The combination of the green and white leaves made it attractive and the quick crop time could make this profitable. An idea could be a direct sow 2 .5"or 3" as for a counter sale? A ball employee got some early seed and gave a finished pot to their friends cat. The word is they had to hide the pot because the cat was going crazy over it.
Snapdragon Bronze Dragon- This plant caught my attention due to the great bronze/purple foliage. The plant habit was decent? The flower power was nothing great either, so I probably would recommend this for a combo item only.
California continues to be a beautiful place to visit in March, the rolling green hills inspire the imagination. It is always fun to see cows on the sides of these very step hills and wonder how they got up that high?
Green-Ex- A dutch production company that had many nice things, but nothing too different until we got to some vegetables. The had a nice assortment of patio vegetables
Ornamental Pepper Paracho- This variety was very unique, usually the pepper goes from green to black, but this variety of peppers start off black. Eventually the will turn a burnt red color, but not till past maturity of the peppers. This is a non pungent variety.
Hem Genetics
I have heard Hem had some nice products, and now I can agree with what people are saying. Their assortment was small but what they were showcasing for the most part was interesting.
Dianthus Diana- This large flowered bedding flat dianthus really impressed me. It had the flower size and plant vigor of the old Corona Cherry Magic, multi-toned colors of the Parfaits and the variety assortment of the Ideals.
Thompson & Morgan- The British had a nice showing of a small assortment of perennials and annuals.
Cat Grass Tabby- These 4" pots were only 2 weeks old after a direct sow. The combination of the green and white leaves made it attractive and the quick crop time could make this profitable. An idea could be a direct sow 2 .5"or 3" as for a counter sale? A ball employee got some early seed and gave a finished pot to their friends cat. The word is they had to hide the pot because the cat was going crazy over it.
Snapdragon Bronze Dragon- This plant caught my attention due to the great bronze/purple foliage. The plant habit was decent? The flower power was nothing great either, so I probably would recommend this for a combo item only.
ABZ Seeds
ABZ is the breeder producer for the Ball Exclusive Berrie Basket and Berrie Galore series.
Berrie Basket (new color)- a name has not be given to this yet, but this third variety is has a great hot pink flower and large ever bearing fruit. With the introduction of this new color, the option to do a tricolor hanging basket is now an option.
I had not thought before about adding strawberries to a mix veggie combo. Their container was a mix of herbs and strawberries. How about mixing the new Simply Salad mixes with strawberries? A fresh salad with sun warmed strawberries sounds delicious!
Food: Coffee (x2) and an orange
Day 2
Day 2 starts early. We have a full day planned with four stops. At the end of last evenings dinner, I was the recipent of a most generous gift from Syngenta. After dinner a raffle was drawn and the pick one name and I won an iPad. I am sure as most of you know, I love all things techie, so I am so grateful of their fantastic gift. I am really looking forward to use the iPad to share photos and presentation with all of you.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Syngenta
This is the last stop of the day and one of the larger greenhouses we visit too. The Goldsmith facility is tucked between 100' tall rolling hills and has great landscaped beds showcasing their flowers to complement their greenhouse trials. A lot of very nice new stuff ,so I tried to pick my favorite.
Verbena Lanai Pink Twister- The flowers have a stable flower pattern that is unbelievable. The habit is trailing, semi upright with good powdery mildew tolerance
Impatiens Super Sonic Orange Ice- Fantastic two toned New Guinea. Habit and flower size are in line with the rest of the Super Sonics. The bi-color New Guineas continue to grow in popularity.
Diantus Venti Parfait- I missed this last year, but this is the perfect replacement to Corona Cherry Magic that was dropped last year. Large flowered, vigorous plant, and hardy in Michigan.
Pot Mum mixes- Syngenta has developed multiple pot mum mixes that look very nice. Their idea was to take the easter mix and develop fall pot mum mixes.
Food: Prime rib and potatoes
Verbena Lanai Pink Twister- The flowers have a stable flower pattern that is unbelievable. The habit is trailing, semi upright with good powdery mildew tolerance
Impatiens Super Sonic Orange Ice- Fantastic two toned New Guinea. Habit and flower size are in line with the rest of the Super Sonics. The bi-color New Guineas continue to grow in popularity.
Diantus Venti Parfait- I missed this last year, but this is the perfect replacement to Corona Cherry Magic that was dropped last year. Large flowered, vigorous plant, and hardy in Michigan.
Pot Mum mixes- Syngenta has developed multiple pot mum mixes that look very nice. Their idea was to take the easter mix and develop fall pot mum mixes.
Food: Prime rib and potatoes
Pacific Plug and Liner
PPL is a multiple supplier stop that contains Histil, Cohen and Jaldety.
Jaldety
Nothing really new to the market, but they had nice specimens of the Sunbathers Gazania in a gallon crop. They said these were grown in a cold production method. FYI, Sunbathers are a large flowered gazania that does not close with lack of sunlight, due to is center being so large.
Histil
Great vegetative herb supplier of unique items. The sales manager assured me that there will be no more availability issues on the Bay Laurel for next season as they have increased their production for 2012. A couple things caught my eye.
Trailing Mint- pretty sure this is not new, but I haven't noticed this before. I tasted it, and it had almost a peppery wintergreen flavor. Doesn't sound that appealing, and I can't say I would eat it again, but it was a different looking plant.
Jaldety
Nothing really new to the market, but they had nice specimens of the Sunbathers Gazania in a gallon crop. They said these were grown in a cold production method. FYI, Sunbathers are a large flowered gazania that does not close with lack of sunlight, due to is center being so large.
Histil
Great vegetative herb supplier of unique items. The sales manager assured me that there will be no more availability issues on the Bay Laurel for next season as they have increased their production for 2012. A couple things caught my eye.
Trailing Mint- pretty sure this is not new, but I haven't noticed this before. I tasted it, and it had almost a peppery wintergreen flavor. Doesn't sound that appealing, and I can't say I would eat it again, but it was a different looking plant.
Grafted Basil- Long Foot
The rootstock is a very hardy fast growing Basil and the scion is a small leaf ornamental basil that also has culinary value. You need to strip the stem of the branches, but the stem turn woody very fats which gives it a great look. Histil says this product sells great for them in Europe. You should be able to product a 4.5" in 10-12 weeks form a grafted liner
Primula Innisfree- I am pretty sure I don't like this, but I thought I would share this with you. The primula leaves look like they have frost damage, but the dark leaves is just how it looks. Could be an interesting combo item for spring.
Cohen
Cohen has a lot of new varieties that are just color adds to series, but one item stood out as being very different. Happy Copper continues in the tradition of the last few years of introducing petunia colors that would make you grandma-ma roll her eyes.
Petunia Happy Copper- Good mounded trailing habit with good sized flowers. This soft melon petunia has a eye that looks like is has been sprinkled with ash from your fireplace. Sounds weird to describe it, it look kind of weird too, but I think the consensus of our group was that it is pretty neat. This antique color could be fun to combo with.
Food: Salmon, cracked wheat salad, asparagus
Golden State Bulb
100 year anneversary for Golden State Bulb this year. Very impressive.
Not too many Callas are grown in Michigan compared to other areas, but they sure looked pretty here.
Tom Lukens shared the growth of their bulbs sales in the fall for Christmas production as an alternative to Poinsettias.
Notice the Black Callas in front
GSB displays showcased alot of upscale pots for the callas, which really made them look good.
Not too many Callas are grown in Michigan compared to other areas, but they sure looked pretty here.
Tom Lukens shared the growth of their bulbs sales in the fall for Christmas production as an alternative to Poinsettias.
Notice the Black Callas in front
GSB displays showcased alot of upscale pots for the callas, which really made them look good.
Food: Chocalte covered mint icecream on a stick- hit the spot
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